Havlat officially out of opener, Niemi skating in early practice, new governor — and predictions

As those of you who subscribed to @PollakOnSharks found out about 25 minutes ago, the Sharks have made it official: Martin Havlat won’t be in the opening night lineup Saturday.

“We’ll take advantage of the (6-day) break in the schedule to make sure he’s 100 percent when he returns,” GM Doug Wilson told me.

Sharks are practicing early this morning (too early, thank you) so anybody who wants can take in that nearby golf tournament where some guy named Tiger is playing. Raining out there now, but my guess is a few players will make the drive anyway.

Havlat is skating, but I’m expecting Tommy Wingels to take part in most of the drills with Ryane Clowe and Logan Couture.

Antti Niemi is also out there today, after staying off the ice on Wednesday.

*****Short note in today’s print edition that I’ll repeat here: Kevin Compton is the new Sharks rep on the NHL board of governors. Compton likes to keep a low profile, but is the most visible of a behind-the-scenes ownership group.

Greg Jamison had held onto his membership on the NHL board after stepping down as CEO, but his involvement with a group looking into purchasing the Phoenix Coyotes pretty much required the change here.

*****Finally, everybody with access to a keyboard makes predictions as the NHL season opens and mine appear in the print edition today. You kind can find our preview package at http://www.mercurynews.com/sharks/ci_19054565, but here is one man’s projection on how the regular season will wind up:

David Pollak

David Pollak has been following the NHL forever and at the Mercury News as an editor or reporter since 1987. For almost a decade he wrote about the Sharks as the paper's Fan in the Stands before joining the sports department in 2001. He became the Sharks beat writer before the 2007-08 season and began this blog at that time. You can also follow him on Twitter at @PollakOnSharks.